Michelle's Sunday column about David Beckham is an interesting read. It might just be posturing, but L.A. Galaxy exec Tim Leiweke is holding firm that David Beckham will play in the MLS or nowhere this summer. They own his rights through at least 2009. It's hard to believe that the aging Beckham would sit out the season. His No. 1 priority is making England's World Cup roster, and at his age, he needs to continue to prove his up to the task.

After stepping away for a few days to let the dust settle, here are a few thoughts on my week in Tampa.

1. Upsets are fun, but they don't often lead to state championships. Nobody expected Pine Crest to emerge out of 3A or for Varela to capture the Region 4-6A crown. Their runs were exciting, but it shouldn't be a surprise that they bothlost early. One has to think University and Killian would have fared better.

2. It's really tough to write game stories on teams that don't score a goal. And this past week, there were more zeroes on the board than are in Obama's stimulus plan (Aside: $789,000,000,000 is a mindboggling amount of money). South Florida's teams played 240 minutes of soccer. They didn't muster a single score. Blech.

3. The tournament should be brought back to South Florida. Even in a down year, three of the last 20 teams standing hail form South Florida. In other years, that number is doubled. How many people do you think made the trip to Tampa? Aside from families and girlfriends, none. There are several million people in Miami-Dade and Broward, a far bigger market than Tampa.

4. What do I write about now, especially if MLS is a no-go? Time to recalibrate.

Friday, February 20, 2009

For the first 60 or so minutes, neither Monarch nor Palm Harbor University looked ready for prime-time.

The two teams combined for just one shot on goal … a harmless long effort by Monarch … and didn't come close to sniffing a goal.

Then the lights went down, and Palm Harbor woke up.

With just over 13 minutes left in regulation, the Pinellas County representatives tallied the deciding goal to send Monarch back to Broward County.

The Hurricanes added a late penalty kick to bounce the Knights 2-0 at University of Tampa's Pepin Stadium Friday night.

Minutes before the first goal, the stadium lights cut out, leaving the two sides scuffling in the twilight.

Ben Sweat could see just fine. The Hurricanes midfielder collected a pass from P.J. McDonald at the top of the box, twisted to his right and fired the shot off his left foot past Monarch goalie Diego Cardoso.

Six minutes later, Palm Harbor University put it away.

The Hurricanes were attacking inside the box, and Cardoso took down Andrew Smith while the ball was free.

Matthew Tobin then beat Cardoso on a well-placed penalty kick. Using his left foot, he slid it inside the right post.

The teams spent the first part of the game battling for the midfield. Neither Monarch (18-6-2) nor Palm Harbor (23-4-4) put a shot on goal in the first half.

However, Palm Harbor had the better of play. Forward Matthew Tobin broke free in the sixth minute, had look at the goal, but sent the ball just left.

The second half wasn't much better, with the initial shot goal not coming until the 55th minute of play. Felipe Nascimento drove a free kick on net, but it went right to the Palm Harbor keeper Max Gallin.